Pentagon officials and NATO chief Mark Rutte have this week confirmed that thousands of North Korean troops are currently in the process of joining Russia’s war against Ukraine. The arrival of North Korean soldiers on the battlefields of Europe is an historically unprecedented event that represents a major escalation in the largest European invasion since
Vladimir Putin has this week proposed changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that would significantly lower the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. Addressing a September 25 meeting of senior Kremlin officials, he presented a series of draft amendments aimed at expanding the scope for possible nuclear strikes. Putin emphasized that if these revisions
The Kremlin has this week announced plans to revise its nuclear doctrine, less than one month after Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia made a complete mockery of Moscow’s frequent nuclear threats. In a September 1 interview, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that Russia is in the process of amending its doctrine on the
Kyiv has this week called on Belarus to withdraw its army from the Ukrainian border and warned of “tragic consequences” if the Belarusian military joins the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The strongly worded August 25 statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs came in response to mounting reports of Belarusian troops concentrating close to the
In the space of just two weeks, Ukraine has claimed more Russian land than Putin’s army managed to seize in Ukraine since the start of 2024. Kyiv’s bold summer offensive caught the Kremlin completely off-guard and has transformed perceptions of a war that many believed was moving slowly but surely toward an inevitable Russian victory.
Units of the Ukrainian army crossed the border into Russia for the first time on August 6, marking the launch of a surprise summer offensive that is rapidly transforming the dynamics of the invasion unleashed by Vladimir Putin almost exactly two-and-a-half years ago. During the first week of Ukraine’s counter-invasion, Ukrainian forces established control over
The letter of support Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian sent to the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, on July 8 was seen by Israelis as a reinforcement of their already strong conviction that the reformist president’s election will not result in any change in the Islamic Republic. Responding to Nasrallah’s congratulatory message, Pezeshkian pledged continued
President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian declared during his campaign that he intends to work to lift US sanctions on Iran. It is clear that the removal of sanctions on critical sectors of the Iranian economy, such as the energy sector, requires a new agreement with the West regarding the country’s nuclear program. But Pezeshkian wasn’t the only
The nuclear threats to the United States and its allies are growing. To deter these threats, the bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States (a commission on which one of the authors, Matthew Kroenig, served) recently recommended that the United States plan for its first strategic forces buildup since the end
Belarus engaged in a bout of nuclear saber-rattling on June 30, with Chief of the Belarusian General Staff Pavel Muraveiko declaring that his country would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if provoked. “We’ve learned how to handle these weapons. We know how to apply them confidently. And you can be sure that we will
